| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Mosses From An Old Manse by Nathaniel Hawthorne: course. One of his most rational projects was to connect a
musical operation with the machinery of his watches, so that all
the harsh dissonances of life might be rendered tuneful, and each
flitting moment fall into the abyss of the past in golden drops
of harmony. If a family clock was intrusted to him for
repair,--one of those tall, ancient clocks that have grown nearly
allied to human nature by measuring out the lifetime of many
generations,--he would take upon himself to arrange a dance or
funeral procession of figures across its venerable face,
representing twelve mirthful or melancholy hours. Several freaks
of this kind quite destroyed the young watchmaker's credit with
Mosses From An Old Manse |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay: for you and the raft. You will wish to make your farewells,
Gleameil."
He then clasped Polecrab by the hand. "Adieu, fisherman!"
"You have repaid me well for my answers," said the old man gruffly.
"But it's not your fault, and in Shaping's world the worst things
happen."
The eldest boy came close to Maskull, and frowned at him. "Farewell,
big man!" he said. "But guard my mother well, as well as you are
well able to, or I shall follow you, and kill you."
Maskull walked slowly along the creek bank till he came to the bend.
The glorious sunshine, and the sparkling, brilliant sea then met his
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Red Inn by Honore de Balzac: dreadfully. But, strange to say, poor Taillefer, though he suffers
untold agony, is in no danger of dying. He eats and drinks as well as
ever during even short cessations of the pain--nature is so queer! A
German doctor told him it was a form of gout in the head, and that
agrees with Brousson's opinion."
I left the group around the mistress of the house and went away. On
the staircase I met Mademoiselle Taillefer, whom a footman had come to
fetch.
"Oh!" she said to me, weeping, "what has my poor father ever done to
deserve such suffering?--so kind as he is!"
I accompanied her downstairs and assisted her in getting into the
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The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas: just taking his meal by his fireside. He inquired what it
meant, and, on being informed of the cause of all this stir,
climbed up to his post of observation, where in spite of the
cold, he took his stand, with the telescope to his eye.
This telescope had not been of great service to him since
the autumn of 1671. The tulips, like true daughters of the
East, averse to cold, do not abide in the open ground in
winter. They need the shelter of the house, the soft bed on
the shelves, and the congenial warmth of the stove. Van
Baerle, therefore, passed the whole winter in his
laboratory, in the midst of his books and pictures. He went
The Black Tulip |
